1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support for coat hangers. More particularly this invention involves a finned tube support adapted to be slipped over a closet rod for separating adjacent coat hangers.
2. Prior Art
It is conventional practice to store coats, shirts and other garments on hangers in a closet or the like by placing the hook portion of the hanger over a metal or wooden rod which is customarily supported at its ends from the side walls of the closet. Difficulty has been experienced in the past in maintaining the coat hangers in spaced relation with respect to each other so that a given garment can be removed from the closet without interferring with the garments on adjacent coat hangers.
A patentability search was conducted on the invention disclosed herein, and the following patents represent the prior art uncovered as a result of the search:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,746 issued to Ferguson on Dec. 9, 1969 shows spacers 22 slidable along a rod 24. Each spacer includes a groove 30 which will receive a coat hanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,597 issued to Brennan on Sept. 2, 1975 shows a hanger bar having spaced nibs 33 which can be used for separating garments supported on hangers.
German Pat. No. 1,252,386 (Mar. 3, 1965) shows a portable carrier bar for carrying a plurality of coat hangers thereon. More particularly, the German invention includes a central cylindrical portion 1 attached to a hanging hook 2 which is used for carrying the device as well as for hanging the device at a later time. A rod (not shown) extends through the cylindrical portion 1 on both sides thereof. Alternate chips or disks 6 and spacing rings 7 are received on the rod and extend outwardly from the center portion 1 to the ends of the device. End caps 4 having handle portions 5 are screwed to the ends of the rod (not shown) to hold the alternate disks and spacers on the rod.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,337,370 issued to Frisch et al on Mar. 6, 1956; 3,004,328 issued to Pepper et al on Oct. 17, 1961; 3,216,095 issued to Kurtz et al on Nov. 5, 1965; and 3,467,180 issued to Pensotti on Sept. 16, 1969 all relate to heat exchange elements, principally tubes having parallel fins.